|
|
Posted by
,
April 13, 2016 |
|
Email
Aaron Nielsen
Twitter
@ENBSports
|
|
Read this on your iPhone/iPad or Android device
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
It is hard to look at MLS and not ask what is the value of a Designated Player? A component to the league and rosters for almost 10 years now, the DP still plays a major marketing role, as well in many ways define a club. Originally named the David Beckham rule, there are still players today who would fit in that category. For example, Kaka at Orlando, Frank Lampard, David Villa and Andrea Pirlo at NYCFC, Steven Gerrard at LA Galaxy and Didier Drogba at Montreal.
You also have DP's who had quality careers before MLS, although success in the MLS have added to their reputation such as a Sebastian Giovinco at Toronto, Robbie Keane at LA Galaxy, Bradley Wright-Phillips at New York Red Bulls and at Columbus’ Federico Higuain and the newest DP contract given to Kai Kamara. You also see domestic talent, including big name American players such as Toronto's Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore, Seattle's Clint Dempsey, Philadelphia Maurice Edu, Sporting Kansas City's Graham Zusi and Matt Besler, Houston's DeMarcus Beasley and adding to this, LA Galaxy signing Giovanni Dos Santos.
However, not all DP's are names you think of when you think soccer stars. MLS Champions Portland Timbers DP's are defender Liam Ridgewell, Diego Valeri and Lucas Melano, with Valeri making the least amount of money. Real Salt Lake's Yura Movsisyan and Juan Martinez, Colorado's Shkelzen Gashi and Kevin Doyle, and New England Revolution's Jose Goncalves and Xavier Kouassi name a few clubs where the players name brand alone doesn't bring up much excitement. Although probably not the design of the league when the rule came in, the DP has basically become an identity for players who are making over $500,000 a season. Some of these contracts may be a bargain for performance, where other players probably are a bit overpaid to leave Europe or South America and play in MLS.
Despite the gap in quality and salary for DP players, they do have a huge impact on their side and if you compare the average DP to the average non DP it is noticeable. The average DP played 25 games last regular season to a non DP’s 16. The average DP scored seven goals, had four assists and took 51 shots, while a non DP tallied one goal, one assist and six shots. This shows the quality, although also the position a DP plays over an average MLS player. In a game scenario, one can see the importance of a DP in how often he is involved in the play, which is identified in touches. A DP almost has twice the amount of the touches as the non DP, which brings a whole different element to the game that you don't tend to see in the rest of the world.
In leagues such as the English Premier League, touches tend to be more even among defenders and midfielders. Key players, who you want on the ball, lead in touches this current season, such as Chelsea's Cesc Fabregas and Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey, who is fourth. The top 10 also include fullbacks in Bournemouth's Simon Francis, Stoke's Erik Peters and Center Backs such as Swansea's Ashley Williams and Tottenham's Toby Alderweireld. In comparison, during the 2015 MLS season no defender was close to the top with MLS DP's Javier Morales, Andrea Pirlo and Federico Higuain having the most touches, along with holding midfielders Gonzalo Pineda, Dax McCarty and Will Trapp.
This is demonstrated visually by two passing matrix charts provided by MLSSoccer and OPTA for the Montreal Impact’s passing performance against Vancouver Whitecaps in week one and the New York City FC performance against Toronto FC in week two. On the graph the position of each number is the aggregate of where each player's touches occurred, while the thickness of the lines between players indicates the number of passes back and forth.
In the Montreal game, they were missing Didier Drogba, so the Impact looked to their other DP Ignacio Piatti to influence the game. Number 10 on the passing chart had a dominating game scoring two goals, adding one assist in a 3-2 away win, and also had 76 touches which is a very large number for a player playing in such a forward position. Also noticeable on the chart is the midfield control and Piatti's relationship with Eric Alexander (number 29), Harry Shipp (14) the left full back Danny Toia (2), and shows how Montreal exploited the Whitecaps despite having less possession and half as many shots to still win the game.
With Frank Lampard injured in the game against Toronto, New York City FC relied on DP's Andrea Pirlo and David Villa as their key players and like Piatti they didn't disappoint. David Villa scoed two goals and took six shots while Andrea Pirlo touched the ball 105 times, more than 70 more than his Italian DP counterpart Toronto FC's Sebastian Giovinco and 30 more times than Michael Bradley. Because of this, NYCFC dominated in possession 57% to 43%, NYCFC had 122 more passes and outshot Toronto FC 15 to 10, however the game ended 2-2. Part of the reason why NYCFC wasn't able to win the game is shown in the chart demonstrating the minimal influence a number of NYCFC players had in the game including David Villa’s teammates upfront - Khiry Shelton (number 19), Tony Taylor (99) and for that matter Mix Diskerud lack of influence on the game.
In comparison, here is a chart for a Chelsea EPL game taken from the 2014-2015 season. As you can see the passing between players on the pitch are far more consistent in numbers and the variety of passes is greater. This Chelsea team would go on to win the Premier League title, losing only three games in the process as well as the English League Cup. As a coach and developer of a starting eleven, the goal is similar to the Chelsea passing chart - you want to include all players in possession, however, you also want players to stick to their position to be effective from both an offensive and defensive perspective.
Passing data has been around for MLS for a few years, although never displayed in this fashion and it will be interesting from an analytical perspective to evaluate each team the league and compare that with other leagues in the world. In my view, it certainly gives added information of understanding how a team plays and shows where analytics and statistics are playing an impact in evaluating the game of soccer. Although even without this data, when I evaluate MLS clubs two main questions come to mind: is the designated player a game changer and what is the quality of the club minus the designated player?
I do see NYCFC as a poor team in the league this year because even though I feel Pirlo, Villa and a healthy Lampard are quality players in MLS, the non DP's are poor in comparison as shown in the passing example. Their lack of influence in the game in possession and creating offense is glaring, and this chart doesn't show their biggest issue and that being their defense. It could be said without the DP's, NYCFC could be one of the worst teams in MLS history. In the case of Montreal, as I wrote in my season preview, I'm very high on the team this season and I did mention how I see Piatti becoming a double digit goal scorer and provider this season. However, it is also the influence the defense of both center and full backs and the midfield can have on the game when the Impact are playing well.
One of the issues created by having a Designated Player rule is it covers up some of the reality of the league, and soccer presently in Canada and the United States. This is especially the case when you are talking about clubs like New York City FC, and arguably Toronto FC. Although the fact that some clubs have stayed away from the high profile DP's tells me at least some are confident that they can be competitive using lower profile DP's in less significant roles, which should be an example of the overall quality of the league improving. That being said, you cannot duplicate the individual performances of the high profile Designated Player, and my opinion on Montreal would be much lower without Piatti and Drogba, and I also feel a lack of a high profile DP is preventing some clubs from competing for the MLS Championship.
|
Aaron Neilsen is a co-founder of Prospect XI (Prospect Eleven), a scouting network and online magazine dedicated to tracking/highlighting young players that refer to as "prospects" as well as their development pathways both within North America and worldwide. Follow PXI via www.prospectxi.com or on twitter @ProspectXI.
|
|